


Blades Once Held

by SilentKnight369



Category: Sword Art Online, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-18 18:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16124126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentKnight369/pseuds/SilentKnight369
Summary: A Sword Art Online/Yuri on Ice fan-fiction. Goes through both anime's and shows how Yuri differs after being in sao compared to the anime. Hope you enjoy.





	1. Intro to Gaming

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Heart of Blades||Cannot Break](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10506549) by [Adel Mortescryche (Mortescryche)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mortescryche/pseuds/Adel%20Mortescryche). 



It all started when he bombed completely bombed his first Grand Pre-Final and he’d been struggling not to break down in a bathroom stall and told to hang up his skates by his 15-year-old namesake, the Russian Punk, Yuri Plisetsky. Well no, he supposed, that wasn’t really true. It had all started when he was 13.   
That was when everything had changed, he’d changed.

  
He’d heard some of the kids in his class talking about a new virtual reality game that was due to come out the next month. His training had always come first so he’d never had time for video games but the prospect of experiencing virtual reality was to good to pass up and he’d been stressed lately by the amount of work he had between school, training and helping his parents at the onsan so he felt he deserved a break. He’d been one of the ‘lucky’ 10,000 to get a copy of the game and was thrilled. He was enthralled by everything in the game and had fun messing around for the first few hours. Then everything went to shit. As it turned out the creator of the game was insane, at least that was the only plausible reason Yuri could think as to explain why he’d decided that trapping 10,000 people, a large portion of which were children, in a game which could and would try to kill them. The mirrors they found in their storage changed everyone’s appearance back to how they look in the outside world. Yuri wasn’t to bad off he’d only made himself look older because he was always mistaken for younger than he was.

  
As soon as he felt able to move he rush out of the square squeezing through the throng of people to a less crowded and noisy area to think over his options. Honestly his first response was stay in the Town of Beginnings, after all his anxiety, while not as crippling as it would be in later years, would still get in the way. Meaning he could end up getting himself or someone else killed. On the other-hand if he did nothing wouldn’t that just make him more of a burden on other players. He knew the other players would be forming parties and guilds right now and he didn’t have much time before the decision would be taken away from him by them getting the best quests and loot. He was a noob and would need all the help he could get. That and even in a game of life and death he couldn’t help be a little competitive. That made his mind up he’d fight to get out of the game, he couldn’t stand back and do nothing if he could make a difference. He set out running heading towards the outlying forests before realising that every other gamer would have the same idea and turned on his heel towards the next village. He may not be a gamer but no one could say he wasn’t a fast learner. He needed to get a strong as he could as fast as he could. He’d hunt on the way there that would hopefully level him up enough that he could take on quests and things in the next village. He wouldn’t join a guild. He refused to drag anyone down.

  
The first month was hard but Yuri levelled up as much as he could and had had several close calls where he hadn’t thought he would make it. He hadn’t had any offers to join others guilds of which he was glad. He knew there was only so much a solo player could achieve but he’d do as much as he could even if it all but killed him. So of course, when he heard about the meeting being held to discuss the first boss he attended.


	2. The First Boss

He sat at the back away from everyone except a dark-haired boy in blue on his right and a red cloaked girl on his left both further down his bench. He was nervous but excited when he heard the first boss had been found but froze at the mention of forming a party. He saw the boy on his right looking as panicked as him as said boy slid up the bench.

“So are you solo to then?” he asked. Yuri nodded and the other boy gave him an appraising look which made him even more nervous.

“Want to party up?”

“Sure” Yuri responded attempting a smile which probably looked painful despite not being able to feel pain in the game.

“We should ask her as well” said the boy motioning to the girl on their left. Yuri nodded again and they shimmed up the bench once more.

“You got left out to huh?” the commented around Yuri. The rather tackles observation made Yuri want to face-palm but he refrained.

“Not even. I wasn’t left out” she responded, “It just seems like everyone’s already friends.” Yuri felt like this was basically the same thing but said nothing.

“So you’re solo too. You wanna form a party with us?” She turned to face them for the first time and the boy continued taking this as an interest. “You heard what the guy just said, we can’t beat the boss on our own and it would only be for this fight” A nod of accent was given and party invited were received and accepted. Yuri glance at his stats seeing the addition of two names: Kirito and Asuna. A plan was quickly formed though with the interruptions of some idiot named Kibaou blaming the beta testers for the other gamers deaths which was frankly ridiculous. When the meeting ended Asuna quickly left.

“Wanna get some food?” suggested Kirito.

 

Yuri nodded and gave a much easier smile than the one before. He was rewarded with one in return. Yuri and Kirito quickly bumped into Asuna and talked as the ate. Asuna gave a rather dark speech about not losing sight of herself and Kirito responded saying he wouldn’t want a party member dying.

“What about you?” Kirito asked turning to him. And Yuri’s face flushed under the gaze of Kirito and Asuna. He looked at the ground instead.

“I was going to stay in the Town of Beginnings but I knew if I did that I’d be no help to anyone so I left so that even if I die it’ll be worth it if I helped someone else,” Kirito all but jumped when he spoke not expecting a response from the younger boy. He smiled.

“That’s the most I’ve ever heard you say” Yuri flushed darker looking anywhere but at the two people to his left. Kirito had sighed when he’d found out that neither of his team mates had ever been in a party before and ran them over the basics. Yuri had never been more glad that he was a fast learner in his life when the boss and his minions appeared. Kirito yelled for a switch and Asuna and Yuri sped forward, Yuri a little ahead, and attacked the two minions coming their way. When the boss pulled out its sword he saw the fear on Kirito’s face as it slashed through Diavel and soon after when he shattered into pixels. Yuri approached and stood on Kirito’s right as Asuna did the same on his left.

“I’ll go to” assured Asuna. Yuri merely gave him a look the spoke volumes.

“Okay” Kirito agreed, and they ran forward swords out. “We’ll hit him just like we did the minions"

“You got it” They spoke in tandem. They attacked switching out, helping each other as they needed it. When Kirito was knocked into Asuna with his health severely depleted Yuri let out a yell and a fast attack that no one, including himself, saw coming. He stood over Kirito and Asuna angrier than he’d ever felt. The bosses next slash though was prevented by Agil as he and the rest of the group held it of till their health had increased. Kirito returned the favour stopping the boss from killing Agil and called for Asuna and Yuri to help him. They responded switching out with Kirito dealing the fatal blow.

 

Things took a turn for the worse when shit stirrer Kibaou blamed Kirito for Diabel's death. Kiritio had claimed himself as a beater, but Yuri had seen his face after Diabel's death and didn’t believe it for a second. Apparently neither did Asuna as she ran after him and called out to wait. Yuri followed but stayed a few steps behind. Though he groaned and face palmed when she asked how Kirito had know both their names. She flushed when he told her.

“Ki-ri-to, Kirito and yu-ri-ka, Yurika. Kirito and Yurika. Whose who?” she inquired looking between them.

“I’m Yurika” responded Yuri and she siled at him in return before turning back to Kirito. “That makes you Kirito” Kirito nodded. “I’m so dumb, it was there the whole time and I never knew” She giggled.

“You can become powerful here on your own, both of you, but if the day comes where someone you trust asks you to join a guild, don’t turn them down. Cause there are limits to what a solo player can do”

“But, you’re solo” Asuna responded saying what Yuri himself was thinking. Kirito didn’t respond simply dissolving their party and leaving. Yuri and Asuna watched as he walked away for a moment before Yuri shook himself and said said good bye to Asuna.

“Bye Yurika, take care of yourself okay. Oh, and here” A second later he received a friend request from Asuna. His first friend request. Yuri smiled and accepted and Asuna engulfed him in a hug before he left.


	3. Surviving But Changed

Yuri didn’t see Kirito for a long time after that. He hunted out in the boonies and when his level was high enough started clearing dungeons. He was glad to be helping the other players and saved a lot of people, but that wasn’t enough. It couldn’t make up for the loses. In the beginning he had accepted friend requests off the people he helped and would stay in touch, even made friends with a good may of them. Until the day their name would drop off his friends list and he knew they were dead. It didn’t get any easier after the first time, it didn’t help that there was no time to grieve. He had to hold it together. If he ever made it out of the game he knew he’d be a mess, but until then or at least until he died he’d keep fighting. His levelling up became quicker, more dangerous after that. He didn’t stay to chat anymore, just moved on once he knew they were in no danger. He was still friends with Asuna and they spoke when they could. She even convinced him to add Agil to his friends list though he’d long since stop accepting them. Christmas came and went and with it he met Klein. He’d been all but drunk a raving about his idiot suicidal friend Kirito which had caught his attention. They spoke and Klein told him about the incident over the revival item. Yuri could only guess at what had happened to Kirito. Klein had sent Yuri a friend request the next day and Yuri had grudgingly accepted using the excuse that he would be helpful to keep an eye on Kirito. Unbeknownst to him Kirito had been asking a bit about him to worried about his friend from floor one, who, like himself, had developed a name for himself. They both helped out on the front lines but Kirito had been unable to spot Yurika until the day of a boss meeting.

 

Kirito spotted Yurika as he left the meeting having had yet another disagreement with Asuna and broke away from Agil to talk to Yurika.

“Yurika!” Yuri turned hearing a familiar voice calling his name and saw Kirito making his way over to him with Agil hurrying to follow.

“Kirito, hi” he smiled facing him fully. “How’ve you been?” Kirito’s smile diminished somewhat and Yuri found himself regretting his question. “Yeah, same” They locked eyes and smiled a little sadly.

“Wanna hang out?”

“Sure”

“Hang on a sec, what about the Dungeon raid?” Agil interrupted. Yuri blushed almost unnoticeably and said, “I got benched for not following orders” Kirito raised and eyebrow a looked as though he were holding in a laugh.

“I’m not participating in this one”

“Alright then. Look after yourselves” Agil relented.

“We will” They called over their shoulders as they walked away.

 

They spent the day talking about what they’d been up to since they’d last seen the other, and for two people who had previously only met once before, they got on extremely well. It was easy, Yuri found, to talk to Kirito because he knew he understood what he was feeling and didn’t force him into anything. It was fun. Asuna turned up as they were lying on the grass un der the shade of a large tree.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, hey. What’s up?” Kirito said lazily not getting up. Yuri gave her a small silent wave. He wasn’t one for talking all that much and was surprised he had with Kirito. He, and to an extent, Asuna could do that to him with him even noticing.

“Everyone on the assault teams working their butts off to clear the dungeon and where do I find you two? Out here taking a nap. Even if you’re solo players you should take this more ser-“

“Bet ya didn’t know this Arncrads nicest season. Todays weather is at its optimal setting. It’d be a waste to have to go to work on a day like this.”

"Whatever do you even understand whats going on? Another day here is another one lost in the real one” Yuri winced trying not to think about his family and friends back in Hasatsu. “Yeah but right now we’re not in the real world are we.” Yuri glanced at Kirito who had his eyes shut and arms folded behind his head. “We’re alive in Arncrad” Asuna looked as though she hadn’t thought of it that way and Yuri who was well used to Asuna’s thought process still had to hold in a sigh at his friend. Kirito continued, “See doesn’t that breeze feel good and the sun”

“Oh come on. The weathers always the same here” Yuri did sigh at that and saw Kirito smirk out of the corner of his eye.

If you lay down on the grass for a little bit you’d understand” he said yawning. Yuri nodded catching her eye and gestured vaguely to the grass with his eyes before closing them and allowing his mind to drift off. In his last moments of consciousness he heard Asuna lay down on Kirito’s left.

 

He woke before the others but stayed where he was not wanting to disturb the peace that had settled over the three of them. Until Kirito woke and sat up that is. He struggled not to laugh when he saw Kirito’s face at seeing Asuna sleeping on his left which alerted the older boy to his conscious state. His laughing stopped when he heard the not so quiet conversation between a group of passing men calling them lazy and rolled his eyes.

“I can’t believe she fell asleep” whispered Kirito as Yuri sat up. He shrugged.

“She was clearing a dungeon before this. Its no surprise she’s tired” he whispered back. Kirito looked thoughtful, then motioned to a wall a few feet away. Yuri nodded and they stood and walked over to sit on the wall and talk without disturbing their friend. The sun was setting by the time Asuna woke.

“Good morning. You slept like a log” Kirito greeted. Apparently, this was not the thing to say as she stood and went to unsheathe her sword. The two boys quickly ducked behind the wall they were siting on. The rose slightly as she shakily released her grip on her weapon.

“You get one meal” she spoke.

“Huh” was the intellectual response she received.

One meal. All you can eat. Then we’ll be even. Deal?” The two boys looked at each other matching confusion written across both of their faces but agreed. If only so she would attack them. Sure, their stats were high but Asuna was scary.

The restaurant they arrived in was packed and whispers surrounded the three players even as they sat, the two boys on one side, Asuna on the other. Yuri tried not to snigger as Kirito sulked at being called shady.

“They meant you too you know” the older boy had told him. He looked around seeing that he too was garnering some sceptical looks, but shrugged. It was easier not to care when you were a solo play than IRL.

“Anyway” began Asuna, gaining both their attention “for today”

“Why?” voiced Kirito. Yuri tilted his head as though to ask the same thing.

“For keeping an eye on me”

“Oh, sure” Yuri smiled a small smile at her and she returned the favour, even if it was rather tense.

“The towns are supposed to be safe zones unless you’ve agreed to a duel. A player cant attack or kill you. But when you’re asleep you’re vulnerable.” Yuri tensed. He’d heard the rumours, of course, but had hoped that was all they were.

“Yeah” Kirito agreed, “now we’ve got player killers who can cheat the duel system. Duels are normally supposed to be tests of strength not a fight to the death. But even if you duel in a safe zone, your HP is still gonna go down based on the damage you take”

“All a sleep PKer has to do is manipulate a sleeping players finger to click the okay button. The duel begins like normal, but the sleep PKer is doing all the attacking. God knows how many times its happened. So anyway thank you” Kirito looked extremely awkward and Yuri struggled to hold in a laugh.

“Sure, anytime. Well, you’d do the same for us” Silence fell on the table and Yuri couldn’t help but think his two friends were strangely awkward around each other at times.

 

A scream ripped through the air and the trio stood instantly on alert and raced to the origin of the scream. They came across a courtyard with a man impaled on a sword, hanging by a rope around his neck from the bell tower. Asuna rushed inside to cut the man down as Yurika and Kirito ran to catch him when he fell.

“Helps on the way!” Kirito yelled trying to reassure the man. But they were too late. The man let out a last agonising scream and disintegrated into pixels. Yurika was numb. He could hear Asuna and Kirito shouting to each other about what happened and managed to tune back in as Kirito put a hand on his shoulder and motioned to the top of the bell tower. He nodded and followed his friend Kirito’s hand not moving from its place on Yurika’s shoulder as though it belonged there. Yurika stayed silent as his friends discussed what could have happened, choosing to recompose himself. It wasn’t the man dying that shook him. It was the fact he’d done so in a safe zone. It shouldn’t have been possible. He focused in on the conversation as Asuna approached them.

“Listen the three of us are going to work together until we solve this thing, until we do there won’t be any time for napping, okay?”

“Okay, but you’re the one that was napping” Kirito agreed taking her hand. Yuri gave a snort as Asuna jerked Kirito’s hand in a painful fashion. He cautiously to her hand in his own and smiled slightly.

 

They left the tower to find someone who had seen what had happened. They were lucky when a young woman came forward who knew the victim. They all tensed when she confessed to seeing someone in the bell tower with her friend. They walked the woman to the inn she was staying at to give her some peace of mind. But Yurika couldn’t get her reaction, when they’d asked if she knew any possible reason someone would wish to hurt her friend, out of his head. He’d always been good at reading people. He’d learnt to when he was young to help with his anxiety. It had helped in some ways, but he tended to over think what he saw. He didn’t think that’s what he was doing now however. Things were tense when Kirito made a scathing comment about Asuna’s lack of appraisal skills, though he didn’t seem to notice he’d done so. Yurika coughed to get them back on track.

“I’ve got a friend, she’s a weapons merchant but she really busy these days so I don’t think she’ll have time to help us” Asuna spoke.

“I know someone that’ll help us” Yurika piped in. They looked at him and he shrugged leading the way. They followed him to a shop on floor 50.

“Oh, this is Agil’s place” Kirito exclaimed as they approached a shop door. Yurika nodded and lead them inside. “Looks like you’re still running all the suckers down with those hard deal of yours.” Kirito commented once through the door.

“No way, Kirito!” Agil’s eyes then moved and latched onto Yurika. “And Yurika! It must be Christmas” Yurika rolled his eyes but gave the older man a small smile anyway, which only proved to widen his own. “By cheap and sell cheap that’s my moto. I’m a business man, you know that” the two boys approached the counter.

“That selling cheap parts a lie though” Kirito commented giving Agil a fist bump. Agil held his fist out to Yurika and he grudgingly bumped it with his own. He didn’t mind it really, but he couldn’t let Agil know that or he’d never here the end of it. Asuna came through the door and Agil panicked and all but yanked Yurika and Kirito over the counter.

“What the hell has gotten into yous. You guys are supposed to be solo players man. What are you doing hanging around with Asuna. I thought you guys hated each others guts?” he questioned at Kirito before turning to Yurika, “and wasn’t she the one who benched you? I thought you were still pissed?” Yurika flush, embarrassed and tried to wriggle out of the larger man hold. He eventually released them and led them to the back of the store. They explained the situation and Agil apprised the sword they had brought to him. Kirito pissed off Asuna when he tested he blade on himself and just about gave Yurika a heart attack at the same time. Asuna took the blade off of him, and Yurika punched him on the shoulder hard. Irritated and worried at his recklessness. They gave Agil the sword to hold on to and left the store. They booked a night at a nearby inn, Kirito and Yurika sharing a room, and agreed to reconvene the next morning in order to properly interview their witness.

 

They managed to get the full story from Yuroko about the fall of her guild. They figured that Yuko and a man named Schmitt were most likely to be targeted next and decided to help Yuroko get in touch with Schmitt. While at inn Yuroko had pronounced her own theory that Griselda, the guild mate off hers who had been killed, had come back as a ghost for revenge. Schmitt seemed shaken by this, the three sword wielders were unfazed however. Yuroko seemed to have some sort of panic attack and Yurika had move forward to try and comfort her when her eyes had widened and she’d toppled out of the window, a blade stuck in her back. Yurika and Kirirto raced to the window and caught sight of her scatter into pixels. Kirito seemed to spot something and leapt out of the window to an adorning roof top. Yurika followed also seeing the cloaked figure. Due to his high speed levels he quickly caught up. But the were to late Kirito threw what looked like large needles at the figure and Yurika did the same with a small collection of daggers he kept. Protected by a purple barrier nothing hit. A bell tolled and the figure was gone having teleported away. Yurika and Kirito made their way back in silence to the inn. They were greeted by Asuna, sword out once again, and a shaking Schmitt.

"You idiots. What’s your problem?” The two boys blink unsure how to answer or what they’d apparently done wrong. She sighed putting her sword away. “Well, what happened? She asked looking between them as Yurika closed the door.

“We lost him. He teleported off somewhere” Both boys were tensed, pissed. Kirito had picked up the dagger that had killed Yuroko and held it shaking. “The systems supposed to protect player inside the inn. I thought if anywhere she’d be safe in here” Yurika shared Kirito’s feelings of guilt but knew they didn’t have time to focus on it right now. “Damn it!” he near yelled hit the nearest wall.

“That robe was Griselda’s” Schmitt muttered just loud enough for them to hear. “It was Griselda’s ghost. She’s come back to get revenge on us” He let out an insane sort of laugh. “Think about it only a ghost can PK someone in a safe zone” He continued half laughing half sobbing as they watched.

“That wasn’t a ghost” Yurika spoke eyes and voice like stone. Asuna and Kirito stared at him never having seen him like this before. “Someone’s using the system to kill that’s the only way these murders could have happened in a safe zone” Kirito nodded in agreement as Asuna watched them.T

 

hey left Schmitt to his crazed laughter when it became clear he wasn’t going to calm down anytime soon. They sat on a bench in the middle of town as the sky became dark and street lights sprung to life. Kirito sat between Asuna, on his left, and Yurika, on his right. And each of them relaxed, if only slightly, at the familiar positioning. Kirito seemed to have and idea as they reflected but dismissed it. Asuna, it turned out, had had the forethought to bring sandwiches which were surprisingly addictive. When Kirito dropped his own Yurka struggled not to laugh until Kirito seemed to have an epinine. He quickly explained what was really going on. They had almost agreed not to get involved in the whole thing and had left to gone to get some more food for Kirito.

“Hey. If one of you were in their guild and a super rare item dropped, what would you have done?” Asuna asked. Yurika paused and looked at Kirito.

Oh, I don’t know. I play solo, part of why I do is so I can avoid situations like that” Yurika shrugged.

“I don’t know. I’ve never been in a guild so I’ve never had to think about it”

“In my guild the one who got the kill gets it” Asuna replied. “Those are the rules we have to play by” Yurika smiled. “You seem happy in a guild” he observed. Asuna nodded and smiled. “You know how in SAO if a player gets a drop no one knows unless the person reports it. Our way no one can hoard stuff because we worked out who gets what ahead of time. Also, the rules my guild plays by gives the concept of marriage in this world real meaning. Think about it. If you marry you have to share your item storage. If you’re single you can hide whatever you want, but you know when you’re married you can’t hide it anymore” Yurika felt as though he was intruding on a moment between his two friends. “I think sharing your storage with the person you’re married to is wonderfully pragmatic. At the same time I think its also very romantic” definitely feeling he was intruding Yurika was about to leave but the food had arrived and at the same time Kirito managed to put his foot in it again. Yurika banged his head of the table shaking his head and trying not to smile, if only to avoid Asuna’s wrath. Kirito seemed to have another epiphany and began questioning Asuna on the effects on items if a spouse died. Everything seemed to click together for Asuna and Yurika at the same moment as they came to the same conclusion Kirito was already at.

 

Kirito, Asuna and Yurika borrowed a couple of horses and rode out to floor 19 where, thanks to Asuna actually adding people to her friends list, they knew Yuroko was. Asuna left to collect Grimlock whilst Kirito and Yurika seemed to arrive just in time to scare off three members of the guild Laughing Coffin. Kirito explained what had really happened as Yurika stayed silent watching out for any surprise attacks. Asuna arrived with Grimlock as Kirito finished his story. After hearing Grimlock’s frankly sickening reason for murdering his own wife Yurika felt sick and judging but the reactions of Kirito and Asuna the felt the same. Yurika snuck off to the side while Asuna and Kirito had a moment. They called him over as they left for food but glanced back and saw… well, a ghost would be as accurate as they could get.

“Hey, Kirito do you wanna friend me? It seems silly not to, we are on the same assault team after all” Asuna asked, and Yurika smiled knowingly.

“But I’m a solo player” was the reply.

“Hey I didn’t say you had to form a party with me. Besides, Yurika’s a solo player and still on my friends list” she argued, “ As much of a challenge it is to get him to accept any these days” Yurika blushed and looked away when Kirito looked at him questioningly. “Besides you should try to make some friends while you’re here”

“Yeah I don’t know its not that I don’t want- hey!” Asuna had hit him on the arm at the same time Yurika had whacked him over the head.

“Just accept it” he told the older boy, “She won’t give up till you do, trust me” Asuna laughed lightly.

“Think about it while we eat. No pressure. Come on lets go back and find a good restaurant”

“Uh, okay”

“You’re coming to Yurika!” Asuna called as she caught him about to sneak off. Yurika sighed and felt a hand grip his left arm. Kirito dragged him along as they caught up with Asuna and smiled at him. Yurika Sighed again and repressed a smirk as he said,

“By the way, if you’re adding Asuna you’re adding me” He snorted at Kirito’s affronted look. Asuna gasped dramatically.

“Wow, Yurika sending a friend request, are you feeling okay?” she inquired mock seriously. Yurika gave the two of them a glare when they laughed which had no effect due to his own laughter which threatened to break forth. Kirito’s hand let him go and his arm wrapped around his shoulders in a brotherly fashion. As they walked, Yurika on the right, Asuna on the left, with Kirito between them, none of them knew why but the action felt as natural as it would in years to come. As though they’d always been this way.


	4. A Unique Set of Skills

Kirito, Asuna and Yurika had gone their separate ways after eating. Though Yurika found that he and Kirito tended to run into each other quite a bit. They teamed up on several hunts but never formed a party, it wasn’t either of their style. They were solo players for a reason and worked better on their own. Kirito had asked him the first time they had partnered up why he hadn’t joined a guild.

“I mean you and Asuna seem pretty close I kinda assumed you’d join a guild together” he commented. Yurika looked away and didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Asuna’s great and all, and she does still try and get me to join her guild sometimes, though so does Klein for that matter. But, well” he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as Kirito watched him curious. “I don’t wanna get in people’s way. You remember when we first met, how I said I didn’t want to be a burden. That’s not changed. Its why I keep trying to get stronger. Cause I can’t stand the thought of getting someone killed cause I wasn’t good enough” Kirito had nodded in understanding and acceptance and Yurika breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Neither brought it up again. Though their run ins did increase in frequency, with Asuna occasionally joining them. Not to say he and Asuna didn’t team up on their own. If Yurika hadn't had such low self confidence he might have realised that Kirito and Asuna had come to care for him as much as he was coming to care for them. Kirito confided in him that he was able to dual wield swords, though he didn’t know where the ability had come from. In exchange Yurika told him about his own unique ability. When SAO had started Yurika possessed only one sword and no shield. He’d rectified this as soon as he could, however, instead of getting a shield as he had originally planned he’d spotted a dagger, longer than most but shorter than a sword and therefore less noticeable. He’d immediately purchased it and taken to the forest to train. He’d quickly picked up the skill and got better equipment when he had enough, so a sword and dagger had become is go to weapons. His ability hadn’t been something he’d real noticed until someone had pointed it out to him. It turned out his experiences in dance and ice skating IRL had carried over into the game via his own muscle memory, increasing his speed, but most dramatically his flexibility. It meant his spins, jumps and similar movements were both more accurate and deadlier. He’d also found out that flexibility was a rather loose term in SAO and that he was less susceptible to paralysis and the like. Kirito wasn’t overly surprised then when he learned that Yurika was only a couple levels below himself despite the fact that he was multiple levels about just about ever other player in Arncrad. He was even less surprised seeing as how their level grinding techniques were scarily similar as were their looks. More often than not they’d be mistaken for brothers by people, this led to them avoiding towns for a bit before Asuna kicked some sense into them and they just rolled with it. They did have a pretty brotherly relationship after all.

 

When Yurika’s best dagger had snapped after a particularly challenging couple of days level grinding with Kirito, Kirito had offered to get him a new one. Yurika tried to convince him out of it, but his mind was clearly set.

“I need a new sword anyway” he’d argued, “and I wanna check out a blacksmith’s I noticed the other day” So Yuri had sighed and accepted the turn of events. He received a message a couple days after they had separated and made his way to the blacksmith Kirito had mentioned.

The bell dinged as he entered. He looked around for a minute before Kirito’s head popped through a door at the back of the shop.

“Hey, come on through your daggers almost ready” He grabbed Yurika’s arm as soon as he was close enough to., and dragged him into the back. A girl, maybe a couple years older than himself, with pink hair, was just putting down her hammer as he entered. Asuna stood beside her and gave him a wave.

“Yurika this is Lisbeth, Lis meet Yurika” Kirito introduced. Yurika nodded to her and, seeing she looked nervous, gave her a small smile. Her face instantly flushed pink, though Yurika wasn’t sure why, merely blinking when Asuna coughed to cover her laugh.

“Is it finished?” asked Kirito, breaking the girl, Lisbeth, out of her thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Here” She picked up the bluish-green blade in front of her and handed it to Yurika. He took it and the others stepped back as he tested its swing. Happy with what he found he smiled at Lisbeth.

“This is great. Thank you” He smiled at her. She flushed again. Kirito and Asuna smiled.

“It’s called the Dark Reaper” She continued to blush as she spoke.

“Yurika’s on the assault team with Kirito an I” Asuna informed. Lisbeth seemed to sadden when she heard that, much to Yurika’s confusion. She ran out of the shop a minute later after whispering something to Asuna. Kirito went after her and when they returned a little later they left and teamed up for the rest of the day.

 

A few weeks later Yurika received a message from Asuna. Somehow, god knows how, she’d managed to convince Kirito to party up with her and wanted him to join them. He immediately messaged back his ascent, grinning. His response detailed the where and when, and he found himself looking forward to the next day. He was early in his arrival the next day but apparently so was Kirito. They hugged, it was a familiar gesture at this point. Asuna appeared soon after landing on poor Kirito, while Yurika had been spared. Though he suffered second hand embarrassment a moment later when Kirito managed to accidentally fondle Asuna and was subsequently kicked away. Yurika walked over and helped him up. Asuna ran over and hid behind them both when an older man teleported in.

“Why are you behaving this way ma’am I’m only following orders? Please let’s go back to headquarters” the man spoke.

“I won’t, especially not with you. And why were you lurking around my house in the morning, huh?” Yurika and Kirito tensed at this.

“You have a bad habit of leaving without any warning. So, for the past month my mission has been to keep an eye on you in Selmburg”

“What? Who ordered this? It wasn’t the commander” She questioned obviously about as pleased has her two friends were.

“With all due respect ma’am my mission is to guard you. No matter where you are including your home” Asuna gasped and Yurika’s frown deepened.

“No, it doesn’t you idiot!” The man sighed clearly irritated.

“I wish you would be a little more understanding about this ma’am” he spoke making his way to them, “Now then, lets return to headquarters” He grabbed her arm and she tried to pull away unsuccessfully. Kirito grabbed the man’s wrist.

“Sorry. But we’ll be borrowing your second in command for the day so you’ll just have to make do without her” As he spoke Yurika gently took Asuna’s free hand and pulled her out of the unwanted grasp and behind him.

“I- “he paused glancing at Yurika who was not so subtly glaring at the other man. “We’ll take responsibility for her security. Don’t worry it’s not like we’re going on a boss raid. You can go she’ll be fine with us” He’d let go of the other man at some point.

“Insolent punks! Do you know who I am? I am a member of the glorious Knights of the Blood Oath. A couple of low-level players like yous couldn’t protect her”

“Either one of punks could do a better job than you” Kirito sneered, and despite the situation Yurika felt a surge of pride that his brother in all but blood held him in such high regards. The man opposite seemed to shake in rage.

“You’ve got a big mouth kid, so I’m going to give a chance to prove just how tough you and you brother really are” Neither of them corrected the mistake. It’s not like it was all that inaccurate these days anyway. He flicked through his menu and a duel request popped up in front of Kirito. Of course, being Kirito, he accepted.

“When I win I’ll duel you next, punk” he spat pointing at Yurika.

It was a quick duel. Kirito won easily, breaking the man’s sword as he did. He tried to attack again but Yurika deflected, and all but snarled in the man’s face.

“Don’t” His voice was low, but hard, and carried to all ears in the area. The man recoiled and Asuna stepped in front of Yurika, her face serious as the man tried to defend himself.

“Asuna. I don’t know how, but he cheated” he exclaimed point at Kirito. “You saw how he destroyed my sword! He must have used some kind of trick. There’s no other way I could have lost to a pathetic beater like him!”

“Korideal, as second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath, I am relieving you of your duties as my body guard” Asuna commanded coolly. “You are to return to headquarters and await further orders”

“You can’t be serious” He caught Kirito’s eye and went to say something when Yurika moved silently to the side so their eyes met instead. Korideal looked taken aback before he sighed and reluctantly teleported away. Asuna sagged in relief and was supported by Kirito. Asuna instantly apologised, though they assured her there was no need. She ended up teasing the two boys the rest of the day stating it was her day off so they could play forward instead of her. They fought their way through the dungeon before they came to the boss room. They stepped inside cautiously, but left quickly once they saw what they would eventually be facing.

 

“Well shit!” Yurika stated through his panting. The three players had run screaming at the sight of the boss knowing they’d be killed if they didn’t. they currently sat, trying to catch their breath and discussing how best to take one the boss. Asuna turned their small discussion into an interrogation when she started questioning Kirito on his lack of a shield despite him only using a one-handed sword.

“I don’t use a shield because it will slow down my rapier, others don’t cause they think it looks dumb and Yurika doesn’t so he can keep his hand free to use his dagger if he needs to” Kirito crossed his arms defensively but said nothing, “How come you’re not using the sword you commissioned from Lis? Very suspicious” Yurika kept his face blank and posture loose so as not to let Asuna know, that he knew anything. Then like a switch hand been flicked, she let it go and brought out their lunch.

They tensed when someone came through a nearby entrance and stood up, before relaxing when they saw it was just Klein and his guild looking exhausted. Klein looked up and stopped noticing them for the first time.

“Kirito, Yurika! How you doing buddies?” he proclaimed walking up to them.

“Hey, Klein. Still alive huh?” Yurika elbowed him in the stomach in response to his bluntness.

“Gee, you’re the same as ever and you’re just as quiet” Klein said addressing the two boys. Klein seemed to spot Asuna suddenly. “Wait. What? You guys are solo players wait are you doing here together not to mention with a girl?”

“I could have sworn you guys met before at one of the boss fights. I’ll introduce you. This is Klein of the Furen Casun guild, and this is Asuna of Knights of the Blood Oath”

Klein seemed to freeze up on them, before bowing his head and sticking his hand out to Asuna, saying shakily, “H-hi, I-I’m Klein, I’m 24 and single and looking for a-“ What Klein was looking for was interrupted by Kirito punching him, hard, in the gut. He seemed to realise what he’d done when Klein guild members surrounded the three clearers. It was tense until they all shouted out, “Wow! Are you really that Asuna?” Kirito held them back from crowding her and looked to Yurika for help. Yurika however was to busy trying not to piss himself laughing at the odd turn of events and Kirito’s obvious affection for Asuna. Klein teased Kirito and Asuna couldn’t help laughing, the boys stopped for a moment. Klein tried questioning Kirito before Asuna interrupted stating that she, Kirito and Yurika were in a party together. Yurika was shaking with repressed laughter at this point, as Kirito defended himself, and Yurika as he was incapacitated at the moment.

Footsteps echoed through the dungeon, and they turned to see a large group approach that Klein identified as the ARMY, the big guild that ran floor one. The leader identified himself all but dismissing Kirito when he introduced himself.

“Have you cleared the area up ahead?” the leader demanded.

“Yeah, we also got a map with directions to the boss room”

“Hmm. Right, then hand over that map and we’ll be on our way?” he held out his hand, pissing most of the group off.

“You want us to just give it to you?” Klein questioned, affronted. “Do you even know how much of a pain in the ass mapping is?”

“We share our information and resources with civilian players all the time, and we don’t charge a thing for it” he argued back practically shouting, “We maintain order in the chaos of battle so that all players can leave this world as quickly as possible. Therefore, its your duty to cooperate with us. So, hand over that map!” Asuna tensed ready to start a shouting match, as did Klein, Yurika tensed and frowned but said nothing.

“Easy” Kirito spoke, attempting to calm the others, “when we got back to town I was gonna go public with the map anyway. Its cool” Klein looked ready to argue but Yurika stepped forward putting a hand on his shoulder, and he relented, sighing.

“Thanks for cooperating” The other man turned away and Kirito pipped up.

“By the way, if you’re planning to hit the boss room I wouldn’t recommend it”

"That is my decision to make”

“Hey, I just took a look inside that room pal, and you can’t beat the boss if your troops are half dead” he yelled after him. “Look at them. They’re exhausted”

Nonsense! My men are tougher than that. They won’t quit until I say so. On your feet! Come on, move!” the men groaned but obeyed and set of in the direction of the boss room. They agreed to go after the larger group and keep an eye on them, just in case.

 

They had just finished off the last of the minions when they heard a scream and tensed.

“Yurika! Asuna!” Kirito called out. They both nodded and the three of the ran ahead ignore Klein yelling after them. The screams continued as the speed towards the boss room.

“Idiots” Asuna muttered, and Yurika silently agreed when the saw the boss room door wide open. They paused at the entrance.

“Hey! Are you guys okay?” Kirito yelled. They gasped when the saw the extent of the damage to the players ranks. “Don’t just stand there, use you’re teleport crystals”

“We can’t” one of the players responded, “They’re not working” The leader of the group spouted off some nonsense about not retreating and Yurika had to hold himself from screaming at the man’s stupidity. Klein had finally shown up and paled when they told him what was happening. Kirito seemed tenser than ever as the men charged. The leader was caught in a lethal swipe and died in front of them. Asuna was fighting of sobs when someone inside the room screamed. The boss had raised its sword ready for the final blow when Asuna let out a battle cry and charged forward.

“Asuna!” Kirito and Yurika yelled. They quickly went after her their own swords out. Klein seemed to resign himself and followed the suicidal idiots.

Asuna launched an attack successfully distracting the boss before it hit her away. It went to attack but Kirito defected and Yurika use his Abilities to launch his own, more effective, quick attack. Klein and his guild were helping the injured players out of the room while Kirito and Yurika launched attack after attack. He knew what Kirito was going to do as soon as he saw his face and nodded to him in support before yelling.

“Klein, Asuna. Help me keep the boss off Kirito for 10 seconds” They looked surprised and confused but agreed. Asuna and Yurika’s attacks were quick, though Klein’s was more strength based. Despite the speed of his own attacks, Yurika managed to at least match Klein in shear strength surprising the older man. Kirito was back in the fight switching out with Asuna and Yurika and unsheathing his second blade. Letting off his increasingly quick fast attacks and finally dealing the boss a fatal blow, his own health in the red. They rushed to him when he collapsed. Asuna was weeping as she hugged him. Yurika’s legs buckled in relief when he had woken and simply sat shaking ever so slightly as Klein questioned Kirito on what had happened.

“And what about you?” Yurika noticed Klein was talking to him and looked him questioningly. “Those flips and jumps were insane. How’d you do that?”

“Flexibility” was all he said. He didn’t feel like taking at the best of times, but certainly not after all that. Kirito explained for him.

“That’s Yurika’s unique skill. It makes him able to do deadlier maneuvers in the air while at using his full speed and strength. Yurika blocked out the others reactions and focused on Kirito, checking him over to make sure he wasn’t going to turn into pixels as soon as he blinked. He hadn’t noticed the others had left until Kirito pulled him into a one-armed hug with his free right arm. He hugged back just as tight. He tried his hardest not to listen in to his and Asuna’s conversation, but it was rather difficult went you were attached like a limpet to one of the people having said conversation. He made do with calling them saps, and was relieved when he received a pair of watery, but genuine laughs.

 

It was at Agil’s place the next day that they found out the news about Kirito and, to a smaller extent, Yurika, much to the boy’s surprise, had gotten out about their unique abilities and neither appreciated the attention, resolving to each get new flats to avoid the sudden swarms of people trying to find out how they could get the skill themselves. Lis was very unsympathetic about the whole situation. Asuna running in and proclaiming that her commander wanted to meet Kirito. When he returned he told them of the Duel he’d agreed to, and once again Yurika felt the urge to bury his head in his hands and sigh at his friend impulsiveness.


	5. Brother In Arms, Sister In-Law

Yurika had missed the duel between Kirito and Heathcliff, though he wasn’t to bothered by this. He’d gone out sell his flat and had relocated to the 57th floor in an attempt to lose the few players who had been attempting to follow and corner him. He was sure Kirito had it worse as his skill was far more impressive than his own, but he had still garnered his share of admirers and haters. It was also the first time he’d heard someone refer to him as the Silent Wielder. He’d often heard Kirito referred to as the Black Swordsman or Asuna as Lightening Flash, and was shocked he was held on the same level as the both of them, even though he knew his own level was only two below Kirito’s and three above Asuna’s.

 

He had rushed to Asuna’s after hearing about Korideal’s attempt on Kirito’s life. His worry was not as soon as he found them they dragged him away and he, somehow, ended up being the sole witness to their wedding.

“Does this make you my sister in-law then?” Yurika had asked Asuna, grinning after the ceremony. She responded with a laugh and engulfed him in a hug. Kirito and Asuna had purchased a house on floor 45, a rural lake district. The house had two rooms, and as the newly weds would be sharing a room they insisted Yurika take some time away from the frontlines with them and stay in the spare room. He’d tried to refuse and give them some time to themselves, but they’d both argued against him saying,

“It wouldn’t be the same without you Yurika. You’re our brother, your part of our family” Yurika might have teared up at that, but none of them mentioned it. He relented after that. He hadn’t really wanted to say no in the first place but had felt it would be polite. He felt closer to Kirito and Asuna than he’d ever felt to anyone, even his own family. They’d settled in quickly. Asuna and Yurika would trade out cooking with each other as Kirito had nearly burned the house down the first time he’d tried.

 

Yurika had opted out of joining the couple for a walk in the woods, so was rightfully surprised when they arrived back with a little girl carried in his arms. He helped tuck her into Kirito’s bed. They sat and discussed who she could be until night fell and they went to bed. She had woken the next day but were unable to find out what had happened to the little girl they now knew was named Yui. Yurika had received an attack hug from the little girl you Kirito had introduced her to him and she instantly proclaimed him,

“Uncle!” They’d explained Yui’s situation after lunch when she’d fallen asleep. They’d all grown very attached, very quickly and didn’t real want to see her go, but knew they would have to. They headed out to the town of beginnings once she’d woken up and been changed. The lack of people had worried them. When they’d stubbled across a group of kids cornered down an ally and leapt over the attackers to defend the kids. One of the men drew his sword and Asuna, clearly pissed, had attacked and put the fear of God in him. They ran away before either of the boy’s had felt the need to draw their own sword. Yui seemed to have some sort of attack and fell off Kirito’s back. Yurika caught her before she was hurt and passed her into Asuna’s awaiting arms.

 

They returned the children and their carer, Sasha, to the church where they stayed and had the situation in the Town of Beginnings explained to them after a good night’s sleep. A knock at the door revealed a woman, Yulier, requesting their help in retrieving the ARMY’s leader, Thinker, from a secret dungeon. They’d agreed to help. But Yurika was worried that Sasha would be attacked again by the ARMY, so he’d stayed behind and wondered the streets with the day carer looking for any children that might need help, while Kirito and Asuna went with Yulier taking Yui with them. When they returned Yurika new something was wrong and a feeling of dread settled over him when he didn’t see Yui with them. Kirito explained what had happened as they made their way home. They were all distraught but remained hopeful that when they got out of SAO they’d find a way to restore Yui, however long that took. It gave them a new determination to complete the game, which certainly came in handy when they were summoned back to the front lines by Heathcliff. They said their goodbyes to the few friends they made during their two weeks’ vacation. Yurika, though not a member of the KotBO, also asked to come along. Heathcliff told them about the massacre during the last attempted boss raid where ten people died. They all agreed to fight, but Kirito had stated that if Asuna or Yurika where in any danger they’d be his priority, not the boss. While they waited, Kirito had asked them not to go on the boss raid and Asuna had effectively torn him a new one. They came to the realisation that they didn’t have much time left before their bodies in the real world simply wasted away. Yurika tried not to imagine his parents and sister watching as he slowly withered and faded away. Asuna had proclaimed that if Kirito died she would kill herself, and from the way his own stomach froze over at the thought Yurika knew he would to. He never saw the way Kirito watched his face freeze and darken as he thought that.

 

They heard the whispers of the other players as soon as the teleported to the meet site. They ignored them until a familiar voice called out to them. They turned and spotted Klein and Agil. Chatting with them had loosened them up enough to tease and laugh at Agil. Everyone went quiet when Heath cliff arrived and they followed him to the boss’ door. The large group made their way into the middle of the room and spread out. Nothing happened for a long minute after the doors closed. Until,

“Up there!” Asuna yelled. Two men where killed in the first hit. Heathcliff blocked an attack and soon after Asuna, Kirito and Yurika were able to block the boss with all their swords together. Kirito, Asuna and Yurika dealt as many blows to the boss’ sides as the other players attacked the rear. They didn’t, couldn’t stop attacking for a second other than to block. Fourteen people dies in the battle but Yurika couldn’t help breath a sigh of relief when he saw Kirito, Asuna, Klein and Agil, tired, but alive. His own health bar was dangerously low after pushing a couple of Klein guild mates out of the line of attack. Kirito and Asuna sat back to back, Yurika lying with his head resting on Asuna’s outstretched legs as she brushed his hair back with her fingers. He and Asuna tensed as they saw Kirito pick up his sword and speed at Heathcliff. They ran after him before seeing the writing above the commander’s head. _Immortal object._ They took up their usual positions beside Kirito. Kirito explained the conclusion he had come to, announcing that Heathcliff was in fact Akihiko Kayaba. One of the players attempted an attack on Kayaba but was frozen as Kayaba used paralysis on everyone bar Kirito. Yurika felt his paralysis already wearing off thanks to his unique ability. He watched as Kirito agreed to fight Kayaba in an attempt to save everyone in SAO, and silently cursed his friends’ recklessness.

“Agil, thanks for supporting all the players in the game since day one. Yeah, I knew. You act like you’re all about the money but I know you spent every penny you had helping the intermediate players level up” Agil was speechless, and Kirito continued, “Klein, I’m sorry I bailed on you that day, I think about it all the time”

“Damn it, Kirito. Don’t apologise, don’t you dare apologise now. I wont accept it, ill never accept it till we’re on the other side and you’re buying me dinner good damn it” Klein yelled, tear flowing freely down his face.

“You got it. See you on the other side” he looked at Yurika who was struggling, trying to get up. “Yurika, I promise I’ll find you on the other side. We’re brothers, always, got it” Yurika nodded tears in his eyes.

“You’d better” he choked out. Kirito sent him and Asuna one last smile, before turning to face Akihiko Kayaba. “If it’s okay, I have a final request to make”

“What is it?”

“I’m not planning on going down easy. So if I die today, I want your word that you’ll fix it so that Asuna and Yurika don’t kill themselves” Kayaba seemed surprised.

“As you wish”

“No Kirito!” His brother and wife yelled.

“You can’t do that. It’s not fair. Nooo!” cried Asuna. He ignored them. Yurika cursed himself and begged his ability to work faster. “KIRITO!”

 

It was an intense battle. Everyone’s eyes widened as Kirito’s sword broke on Kayaba’s shield.

“Game over, Kirito” Kayaba brought down his sword in one final blow. And was blocked by Asuna’s body. He cut clean through her and Yurika could only watch as she died and scattered in Kirito’s arms.

“Now that was a surprise” Kayaba commented dismissively. That was when Yurika’s paralysis broke. He let out a yell and launched himself at Kayaba in a rage. He would win he knew that, but he could give Kirito a chance to compose himself, if he could that is. Kayaba manage to bat Yurika away after a surprised minute, and he felt his knees buckle. He blinked up at his stats confused and saw the poisoned symbol next to his health bar which was in the red and shrinking. He lay back, and thought he must have passed out because when he looked over he saw Kirito, sword run-through him, and almost faded. He summoned the last of his strength and screamed,

“KIRITO!” His grip on Asuna’s sword tightened and he let out a yell, impaling Kayaba. They scattered into pixels and Yurika hadn’t enough energy to even cry. He heard someone yell his name and rough hands held his head. He opened his eyes, not knowing he’d even shut them, and smiled up at Agil and Klein. Before his eyes slid shut and there was darkness as his VR body shattered and died.

 

Yurika opened his eyes and found himself in surrounded by clouds. He turned and spotted Kirito and Asuna kissing. Tears weld up in his eyes, but he ld them back smiling and as they broke apart said,

“You guys are the sappiest couple I have ever met” They turned to him shock written across their faces and he ran over embracing them.

“You too, huh?” Kirito asked. “What happened?” Yurika shrugged a should.

“Kayaba poisoned me after I attacked him. Probably wouldn’t have had much affect usually, but my HP was already in the red” They walked to the edge of whatever it was they were standing on and watched, slightly sadly, as their home for the past two years fell. Akihiko Kayaba appeared as they watched, much to their surprise. He assured him that the other players were safe and attempted to justify himself to them. Not that they particularly cared. He disappeared but not before hinting they might not in fact be dead. Though none of them had noticed. They sat on the edge and after two years learnt each other’s real names. Kirigaya Kazuto, Asuna Yuuki and Katsuki Yuri faded from Sword Art Online.

 

Miles apart from each other, two boys woke instantaneously. A girl some distance away twitched, but remained in slumber.


	6. Back To Reality

It wasn’t till around a month after they’d escaped SAO that Yurika, or Yuri as he was known IRL, was deemed fit enough to be admitted from the hospital. The cabin fever he suffered there wasn’t cured as he’d hoped it would be when he got home. If anything, it got worse with all his family and friends constantly hovering over him as though he would break or disappear if they left him too long. He couldn’t blame. But he was used to being a solo player. He’d been looking after himself for two years, and suddenly going from beginning totally independent to utterly dependant on others was horrible. He couldn’t have been happier, however, when he’d received a call from Kirito a week after waking up. He didn’t know how he’d got his number, and frankly he didn’t care, he was just glad to know his brother was alive. He’s found out that Asuna was still unconscious, but she was alive, so there was hope. He found that two years stuck in a video game had left him with several habits he hadn’t possessed before. He didn’t speak much anymore, other than to Kirito, and when he did talk he tended to speak in terms of levelling up or HP, strength and speed stats. It worried his family, that much was obvious, but it seemed to worry them more when he didn’t speak, so they learned to deal with it and he tried not to use gaming terms around them, though he still thought of the world in much the same way he had in SAO. They weren’t as different as people thought, he’d found. Sure, there were no monsters to kill, nor was he able to propel himself to the same height he had been, but you could still die at any point, and speed and skill were still important. At least they were to him. He’d been right in his prediction that his body had deteriorated while he’d been trapped. He was banned from ice skating until his muscles could handle the strain but was told that resuming his dance classes was actually recommended to speed up the process, so long as he didn’t overdo it. He’d immediately inducted Minako, his old dance teacher from before, to train him, which she did happily. He attended dance classes everyday for two months before he was deemed ready to take to the ice. He practiced as often as he could, as hard as he could. Another thing that had carried over from SAO was his need to level grind. He took every dance class offered to him by Minako, even pole dancing, which he wouldn’t have even considered two years previously. He often caught himself swiping his right hand to open an invisible menu, before remembering they didn’t have that anymore. He talked to Kirito as often as he could, and two months after their return, took the dive back into VR to help Kirito bring Asuna back to reality. They’d managed, and Yurika had met Kirito’s sister and, later on, a young girl named Silica that Kirito had helped during their time in SAO. Most of them ended up attending the same school that had been created for SAO survivors as they would be two years behind in their schooling. But Yurika, who lived to far away to attend, was home schooled by his parents and older sister. Yurika’s anxiety had gotten worse when he’d returned to the real world, and he had several panic attacks in the first few months. He’d learned to manage them after a while, and while they didn’t completely stop, Yurika found that taking to Kirito or Asuna over the phone helped calm him down. His friends were more than happy to help him, as he was when their own slight side effects from their time in SAO appeared.

 

A year after everyone had returned to the real world everything most back to normal, with a few twists of course. They’d made several new friends from different VR games and helped a great many people in the process. Kirito and Asuna where dating and planning to get married once Kirito turned 18, Yurika had been asked to be best man and had accepted. Kirito was working on a creating functioning body for Yui and Yuri was finally aloud to do the jumps he’d been banned from preforming on the ice. He was almost at the same point as his peers in his education and was looking forward to going to college in a couple years and getting his independence back. The three friends met up most days in VR and at least once a week Yuri would make the trip down to see them, or them to him. They went by Agil’s bar most of the time when he was visiting to meet up with the others. They were glad of the place to hang out that wasn’t their own homes which they each found stifling. The biggest change from before what people were calling the SAO incident, was that Yuri had purchased a bamboo practice sword one day, a few months into his recover, and if he wasn’t on the ice or in the dance studio, he could usually be found round the back of the onsan practicing with it. It his muscle memory, which had helped him in the game, worked both ways, and Yuri was shockingly good for someone who had near picked up an actual sword in his life. His parents didn’t approve of his new pastime after everything that had happened, but had accepted it as his form of coping. And it very much was. When being in his head would get to much for him he’d take out his practice sword and work till he was too tired to continue. Kirito and Asuna often brought their own bamboo swords to practice with when they visited, and they worked together as well as they had back in SAO. 

Yuri was 18 before he was able to compete in the Juniors position skating. He was studying at a college in Detroit, America, at the time and was utterly ecstatic when he got the news. Kirito had helped calm him down before his performance which had staved off the panic attack he had felt brewing. He won fourth that year, and as disappointed as Yuri was at not making the podium he was just as relieved that he’d actually be able to pursue the career he’d always dreamed of. He’d made friends with Phichit Chulanont, a fellow skater three years his junior, in his third year and after two months fast friendship, they moved in together. Yuri hadn’t told anyone about his time in SAO, not even his family, and had decided early on that he wouldn’t mention it to anyone that didn’t already know. This meant that he received a lot of strange looks at the rink when he muttered about grinding and annoyance at not being able to see his stats. Not to say that he didn’t get looks in classes or at home, but they seemed most prominent at the rink. Around a month after Yuri and Phichit had moved in together, the odd looks he would get disappeared as his friend got used to his idiosyncrasies, it was any more unusual than the collapsible stripper pole he kept in the living room after all. Yuri wasn’t sure when his friend had figured it out, but he had. Around a year after moving in together Phichit had gotten curious about his friend’s strange forms of speech and had looked up several of the terms he’d heard Yuri mutter to himself. Then he spotted the list of players who had been trapped in SAO and he’d paled. SAO had only been launched in Japan, where Yuri was from, and he knew Yuri had the nerve gear as he’d walked in his room while he was hooked up to it more times than he could remember. He’d scrolled through the list. It was only the screen names that were shown, but he knew Yuri well enough by this point to know he’d either use something ice skating related or an adaptation of his own name. He came to Yurika and almost threw up at the thought of his best friend stuck in that death game. Phichit had confronted his friend about his findings after practice the same day. Yuri didn’t bother trying to deny it and just held his friend as he clutched at him as though begging not to disappear. Phichit and Yuri grew closer in a way only shared secrets can do. Not that it was his only secret, though certainly his biggest. Vicchan was his other. Dogs weren’t strictly aloud in his flat, but after two years away from his precious Vicchan, he refused to be away from him for another five years, and had snuck him into his flat. It wasn’t as difficult hiding Vicchan’s existence as he’d thought it would be since he was so small and quiet. He was helped by Phichit when he moved in and instantly fell in love with the small dog.

It was his last year for college that he got to compete in the Men’s’ Senior Ice-Skating section and managed to make it too the Grand Pre-Finals. He’d had to leave Vicchan with Phichit, who’d injured his leg a couple of weeks previously and he panicked, his anxiety getting the best of him. He was torn up when he came in fifth place, he’d managed to keep from breaking down in a bathroom stall after talking to Kirito on the phone when some kicked the door. And so began the next chapter of his life.


End file.
